Little Did I Know: May 2013

Monday, May 20, 2013

Family

6:12 PM

Family:

a. a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not: the traditional family.

b. a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for: a single-parent family.

I often think about the concept of family.

We define that. For ourselves. For our children. For our experience.

Before I had children my "family" had a few definitions... I "defined" family as my relatives through my parents: brother, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, etc. I also had a definition of family which encompassed those friends who were very close. Friends who had/have known me for better and for worse over years and years. And there was family as defined by God; my Christian "family."

Now that I'm a parent, now that I'm older, now that I have gone through both some tough and some wonderful experiences, family to me encompasses all that and more. My core family, my center, is of course myself and my children. And then beyond that... it's friends who have known me for years, and known the TRUE me good and bad... it's relatives, but then again maybe more specifically relatives who I can trust, relatives who I know are there for me/us through it all and not just looking from the outside unwilling to toss a rope when you are at the end of it... and it can also be recent friends who have battled through prayer and life with you as well.

But regardless the definition you have of family for you... our primal definition begins with what we learn as a child, those people we live with, the ones we call "mom", "dad", "brother/sister". Our relationships form and develop based off of these; good and bad. For a child who doesn't know that. A child who has never had those immediate familial memories and ties, what must the world look like to them? Do they even truly understand the meaning of "mom" or what it at least SHOULD mean?

For what it's worth, Macy now knows she has a family. It's crazy for me to even type that. When I put together a package to send to Haiti to be given to her, I had been told I could send a photo book but that it would not be able to be given to her until we had gone through courts. Completely understandable. Imagine my surprise when I opened an email Friday night to find pictures showing that not only had she been given our package, but also the photo book! Tears, fast and furious, as I saw her surrounded by others, and most likely trying to process what exactly "this" was, who were these strange people looking back at her in the pictures of her book, what did "Mom" or "Grandma" even mean? But I know. And I know that she at least can begin to process and understand. And I pray for her heart. I pray for our process. I pray for our family.

| 0 comments

Friday, May 17, 2013

Mother's Day

7:35 PM

See... I told you I was behind in posting!!!

Mother's Day was so much fun! The kids and I splurged on season passes to Great America last fall which enabled us to go to Fright Fest last October and will get us in free all summer. They had a great deal when you bought four, included upgrades like free parking all season, and we took some of our gift money for different things and purchased these to use all summer. So our first time going was Mother's Day... my kind of celebrating!

We had a Blast!

It was a gorgeous day, but chilly. And even so, those crazy boys decided to go on the ONE water ride that was open. And their even crazier mom let them! :) I did mostly because Braeden doesn't like rides. I know... he doesn't like rides but you bought season passes?!? Yes, because he loves the FOOD :) and the experience. He rode THREE rides this day, so I let this be one of the three. I made them take off their fleece jackets before going on...

and I'm glad because they were SOAKED! So we stripped the shirts, wore just the jackets, and hung our laundry to dry. :)

This pic cracks me up... I only wish I knew WHAT he was telling Bugs! :)

A very happy Mother's Day indeed!

| 0 comments

Way to Go!

7:25 PM

So behind in posting! This time of year is so busy with IEPs and end of the year meetings and paperwork and all that jazz.

Olivia ended the year doing so great in track and loving every second of it! She made it to sectionals in the 100m dash and was a sub for the eighth grade relay team though she didn't end up running it. No one from her school unfortunately made it to state, but as we said, there's always next year!

She used blocks for the first time at sectionals and had a little help figuring it out...

It was quite cold this day but she ran like a champ with no complaining...

She ended up third in her heat. First and Second went on to the finals and she missed it by just a hair...

All in all it was a wonderful experience. She shared with me that she prays before every race. BUT, she was adamant that I know that she does NOT pray to win. Instead, she told me she would pray she "doesn't get hurt or hurt anyone else and prays for God to lead me through it and that I won't quit."

How I adore her heart!

| 0 comments